


The Cost of a Good Man (The Regret Remix)

by afrocurl



Series: remixes and such [27]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Gen, Remix, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 08:31:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11353725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl
Summary: Francis' thoughts about Erik are not as good as he imagined they would be when he changed Erik's life.Too bad he's forced to see the consequences of his actions in full daylight.





	The Cost of a Good Man (The Regret Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [arcapelago (arcanewinter)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanewinter/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Cost of a Good Man](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1661915) by [arcapelago (arcanewinter)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanewinter/pseuds/arcapelago). 
  * In response to a prompt by [arcapelago (arcanewinter)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanewinter/pseuds/arcapelago) in the [xmen_remix_madness2017](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xmen_remix_madness2017) collection. 



It was odd to write a letter to one’s younger self, but needs required it. Charles had wanted to avoid seeing his younger self and Erik as much as possible, but he forgot that in his youth he was a precocious boy who could never let a mystery die. That he had met his younger self was something that still haunted him, but in those sad blue eyes, Charles saw just how much his choices were making the life he wanted for himself and Erik vastly different.

But, he had felt so much of young Erik’s pain as Erik missed meeting his uncle, and even across land and sea, that anger had built and there was only one thing he could do.

He hoped that by sending young Charles that letter, he could bring him and Erik together again. But it was clear - a mere three weeks later - that young Charles had not opened the letter.

The sun was setting, the warm breeze from the ocean doing wonders for Charles, but he was still puzzled.

There were myriad things Charles had done to save Erik from heartache - saving him and Edie from the ghetto was easy; killing Hitler and his ilk much harder - but in what could be paradise, there were seeds of discontent.

Years passed as Charles still felt the rift between himself and Erik grow, but as an illness gripped him in Scotland, he felt something.

It felt like hope.

-

Despite not knowing the pain of the Holocaust, Erik was angry. But rather than an anger directed at institutions and faceless people, he was angry at young Charles.

For a simple fact: denying Erik a chance to meet his uncle.

Erik’s rage was a simmering sort, but it was there all the same. It was hard for Charles to watch it, knowing what he had done.

But, as Erik’s ire at them both cooled, Erik arrived at Charles’ room, determination leaking from his whole body.

“I know you want answers, but I can’t give them to you. I’ll answer what I can, however.”

Erik scowled, but sat down and started to ask about everything.

-

Damage done, Charles tried as best he could to bandage some of the hurt in Erik’s life. Offering up his own apartment was easy, because he truly did want to know this Erik, and it seemed that Erik wanted nothing to do with the younger Charles.

Had he really hurt each of them so much?

He supposed he had, and perhaps in time, Erik would know it was done with all the best intentions.

There was time to find out.

-

Erik stayed for years, through Charles’ return to America, and with the intention of making up for lost time.

It was doubly lost, Charles realized, but it was hard to explain all of that to Erik without veering into too many stories of his Erik, of his time, of his struggles to battle Erik’s bullheadedness. But after a few weeks of awkwardness, Charles settled into a life with this boy - this man - who was Erik and not.

At the cost of a better relationship between his Erik and his younger self, Charles felt sorrow. As much as he had fixed some things, he ruined others.

Perhaps he had ruined the relationship he wanted to save the most, but perhaps that relationship was never meant to be robust and filled with easy company.

Pain, it appeared, was what drove Charles and Erik’s relationship no matter when.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta for the help this get better and to my friends for helping me to get this idea out of my head with only minimal heartache.


End file.
